Fundraising

Crowdfunding is an increasingly popular way for nonprofits to raise funds. More and more donors are getting familiar with the crowdfunding model and find it a convenient way to support their favorite causes.

If your nonprofit wants to create a crowdfunding campaign and is seeking out some best practices, keep reading. We’ll go over seven strategies:

#1: Be realistic and specific when setting goals.

Setting a goal is the first step to creating any crowdfunding campaign. Ideally, you want a goal that is challenging but also achievable.

If your nonprofit wants to reach this medium between too difficult and too easy, use the SMART method.

What are SMART Goals? Smart goals help you establish more specific objectives and are broken down into five points:

Specific: When your goals are ambiguous, they lack a clear direction, which can cause your staff and donors to come to different conclusions. Specific goals keep everyone on the same path. That way, you can focus on raising funds instead of clearing up any confusion.

Measurable: How can you succeed if your goals can’t be measured? Goals need some unit of measurement—whether that be dollars or the number of new donors acquired—to help you track your progress.

Attainable: While it’s nice to have a challenge, don’t set a goal that’s too hard to reach. Take everything into consideration and ask yourself if you believe this goal can be reached.

Relevant: Make sure your goal makes sense. If your donors don’t see the relevance, then what reason do they have to give?

Timely: A measurable goal has to have a time limit. Without a timeframe, it’s not clear how long you have to raise funds.

For your crowdfunding goals, SMART goals help you set expectations for your donors and give everyone a clear finish line.

For instance, let’s say an animal shelter wants to start a crowdfunding campaign, they set a goal to reach $15,000 in the next three months to improve their dog kennels. This goal is specific, measurable, and timely because there is a definite amount they want to reach and a timeframe. In addition, the goal is also relevant; they are creating the goal to help make improvements to the animal shelter.

The takeaway: Goals don’t just help you, they also help your donors understand your expectations. Establish goals so that everyone is on the right track throughout your campaign.

#2: Get creative with crowdfunding rewards.

Often, crowdfunding campaigns have rewards as an incentive for supporters to contribute. The level of reward will depend on the donor’s gift size. Usually, donors only receive their rewards if your goal is reached.

However, if not done correctly, rewards can greatly affect a supporter’s decision to give. In a recent study, Yale researchers found that rewarding donors can decrease donations. It was discovered that donors feel selfish if they’re given a gift in return for their contribution, which discourages them from giving.

Luckily, there is a solution: impact-driven rewards. Impact rewards have a strong connection to your cause and help donors see the outcome of their contributions.

If you’re looking for item ideas that impact your donors, we’ve got a few examples for you:

T-shirts, hats, or other wearable merchandise. Donors can publicly share their support for your organization. Plus, it will help spread awareness about your cause.

Free tickets to an event. This reward can work well for the higher donation tiers. Reward your donors with a celebration where they can see the positive outcomes of their support.

Items created by the communities or people you serve. This reward may not work for every nonprofit, but it can help develop a strong bond between donors and your cause.

The takeaway: Giving your supporters rewards can work to your advantage if you’re strategic about what you give. Reward donors with things that show them the results of their contribution.

#3: Pick the platform that fits your nonprofit’s needs.

The platform you decide to use will play a big role in the success of your crowdfunding campaign. You want to look for a platform that offers different features that can help boost your campaign’s awareness and make it easy for you to update your page.

If your nonprofit is searching for a platform, look for these features before you pick:

Social sharing buttons. You want donors to share your page so that they can spread awareness. Look for a platform that offers supporters an easy way to share their gift and your fundraising page on their social media accounts.

User-friendly. You don’t want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to use a new platform. Pick one that is intuitive and lets you easily add your elements and start raising funds.

Mobile-responsive. Giving all your supporters access to your fundraising page is important. Make sure that donors can view your page no matter what device they use.

Another important factor to consider is the cost. Some platforms will charge you a fee to host your campaign on their site as well a payment processing fee.

Research all your options so you pick a platform with the features and price that you want.

If you need some help looking for the perfect crowdfunding website, Double the Donation has created two lists of the best crowdfunding sites for individuals and nonprofits!

The takeaway: The right platform sets the groundwork for the rest of your campaign. Make sure to pick one that fits all of your needs.

#4: Use visuals to help tell your story.

A successful crowdfunding campaign is all about the story. A powerful story will encourage your donors to give and can evoke a sense of emotion.

You have a short time to impact the reader. We all know the saying, “Images speak a thousand words.” And it’s true! Images and video can help you get your message across fast. Plus, they engage a donor’s five senses in a way that most text can’t.

If your nonprofit wants to tell you story through video or photos, there are a few things you should consider:

Show your nonprofit in action. Let your supporters see some of your previous projects. That way, they can understand your cause better.

Make sure your visuals can be viewed on any device. The last thing you want is to spend a lot of time create a visual story and only some of your viewers can see it.

Don’t eliminate text completely. Text can be good to get your message across or point out important information. Don’t fear text: include it when you have a good reason.

Telling your story with the help of visuals gets your message across and helps donors see why supporting your nonprofit is so important.

The takeaway: Your story is what inspires donors to give. Convey your message in a way that will grab your supporters’ attention and show them why your cause is so important.

#5: Enlist the help of your supporters.

Instead of handling all the marketing yourself, ask your supporters to help. Crowdfunding is very similar to peer-to-peer fundraising, where your supporters raise funds for your nonprofit. The same approach can be used in crowdfunding.

Since there is such a social aspect to this type of fundraising, encourage your donors to share the campaign on their social media to enlist the help of their friends and family.

Before you can ask your supporters for help, you should equip them with the resources they need to spread the word. To get started, you’ll need to provide supporters with the following:

Shareable content. Share videos, images, articles, and so much more. The more content you have related to your campaign, the more opportunities donors have to share and start talking about your project.

Updates on your campaign’s progress. Your supporters will have trouble trying to convince their peers to give if they aren’t knowledgeable about the campaign’s progress. Share how far you’ve come and don’t forget to make it visual so it grabs attention.

Motivation to keep spreading the word. You can’t get your donors’ support if you don’t encourage them. Remind donors to share their contributions on social media and ask them to share your content.

The takeaway: When your nonprofit has a strong group of supporters, you can leverage their passion, which might motivate their loved ones to give. That way, you can reach even more people and have a higher chance of succeeding.

#6: Engage with supporters throughout the campaign.

Interacting with donors is critical to any fundraising campaign but especially for crowdfunding. Without that regular conversation, your donors’ interest in your campaign can fade. This isn’t good for your chances of meeting your goals because it means they’ll have less interested in sharing your cause with others.

Why? The less interested your donors are, the less likely they are to share the campaign with friends and family and grow the network.

Thankfully, that fate can easily be avoided with consistent engagement. In addition to regular interaction, you want to vary the channels you use to engage with your supporters. We’ll take a look at three different communication channels you can use to communicate with your donors:

Email – With email, you can provide your donors with more in-depth updates on your campaign’s progress. Additionally, you can request donations via email because you have the space to give detailed instructions on the donation process.

Social media – Facebook and Twitter are both great platforms to share updates and strike up conversations related to your campaign. You can get creative with video and images to encourage donors to give.

Text messages – One of the more immediate communications methods, text messaging is great for important messages. Text messages have a high open rate, which means that most of your donors will get the message.

Crowdfunding updates are also effective ways to keep your donors engaged. Similar to social media posts, these updates appear on your fundraising page to help keep supporters posted on your campaign during your fundraiser and after your campaign has ended.

They help your campaign stay relevant and give you more opportunities to engage with your supporters without asking for donations.

You can use crowdfunding updates to notify people when you’ve reached significant milestones, highlight specific donors, and publicly thank your supporters. Truly, the possibilities are endless!

Before you create your campaign, look for a platform that has crowdfunding updates. Some crowdfunding websites make it even easier to share your campaign’s progress, by automatically posting your updates to social media (if your accounts are connected to your fundraising page).

The takeaway: The trick to keeping donors interested in your campaign is to interact with them regularly and on different channels.

#7: Practice good donor stewardship.

Following up with donors is often forgotten in all the commotion that comes with a crowdfunding campaign. We get it. With all the engagement and planning, following up with donors can take a backseat to the more immediate tasks.

However, acknowledging your donors is not a step that can be overlooked. Although your main goal may be to raise a certain amount a funds, you’re also gaining new supporters throughout your campaign.

Letting your donors know you appreciate them can help you start to develop those relationships that can get donors to support you in the future. Follow-up with your donors using these tips:

If a donor shares their gift on social media, send them a comment to thank them.

Provide first-time donors with a welcome packet so they can learn more about your nonprofit and cause.

Soon after a donor gives, send them a thank-you letter to acknowledge their gift.

Even after the thank-you, keep communicating with supporters. Give them progress updates on your project.

The takeaway: Following up with your donors is critical. It lets them know you care and starts cultivating those bonds that could cause donors to keep giving.

Now that you’ve read through seven of our top crowdfunding best practices, you’re ready to start building your crowdfunding campaign. Just remember to be creative and engage with donors in as many ways as possible.

Started in 2012 by the 92nd St Y and the United Nations Foundation in response to how the holiday season has become increasingly commercial, #GivingTuesday (as it’s referred to by the Twitterati) is a growing movement in support of a worldwide day dedicated to giving to others.

With early reports from retailers projecting record revenues on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016, it will be interesting to see if the public also steps up to open their pocketbooks and wallets to show their philanthropy on Giving Tuesday, November 29, 2016.

Since we were created and launched by CustomInk in the summer of 2013 — at Booster.com—we dedicate every day to giving.

While we weren’t the first “crowdfunding for good” website — in our short history, thousands of citizens have supported campaigns, raising millions of dollars for people and causes they care about.

In that time, inspiring campaign Organizers (individuals, groups and nonprofits) have launched online fundraisers on Booster.com that go beyond “donation-only “(yet laudable) crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe, YouCaring, Fundly and FundRazr.

In addition to raising money, “Boosters” (aka campaigns that run on Booster.com), also raise awareness and spiritsthrough t-shirt fundraisers.

Reflecting the broad range of charitable causes depicted on walking billboards for charity there is a huge selection of different products, colors, artwork and designs to choose from via CustomInk’s massive product catalog.

Supporters show their generosity by buying shirts and making cash donations, which credited to a campaign that usually lasts under 1 month. At the end of the campaign, shirts are shipped to supporters (who wear them proudly), and after-cost proceeds are sent directly to a designated beneficiary.

In communities across North America and around the globe—families, friends, neighbors, students, colleagues and others are starting, and/or contributing to Booster campaigns…and encouraging others to do so.

With more and more people launching (and re-launching campaigns), supported by a widening donor base — Booster has truly “caught on” as a fun and effective way to fundraise and given people around the world a new way to give.

This cool new way to give has also attracted attention and praise from philanthropic and leaders and coverage by press across the globe. In under three years, newspapers, TV, radio and online media have done more than 700 stories on Booster campaigns.

Channeling the holiday spirit, by modeling Jesus’s words “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” (or the charitable tenants of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and the world’s other great religions), now’s a good time to give.

But don’t just give on #GivingTuesday.

Whether you consider ‘community’ to be local, national or international – it’s always great to give.

Give money when you can, but give encouragement, love, your time, your spirit to others in need… every day.

Why Give?

Just b-cause

And in the memorable words of Margaret Mead…“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Whether it’s tweaking an Organizer’s original hand-drawn concept, or creating a powerful original shirt design from scratch– Booster offers custom design services for your fundraising campaign to help take a design concept and upgrade it to the next level. Booster’s in house design team take requests from the Design Lab where campaign Organizers can choose between editing a pre-existing design, submitting a design form for the design team to modify, or creating a completely new shirt design.

The design request form is available for organizers who want to incorporate a compelling new shirt design, but lack the skills and resources that Booster’s design team offers. Our talented artists will take a picture or concept you submit and put together a design that they think best embodies your request. Each week we are going to feature a campaign that benefited from the creative assistance of our Booster designers.

The ability to accept online donations is vital for most nonprofits to function in the technological age. That said, there are several ways that an organization can go about collecting online donations.

With so many options, many organizations aren’t sure which solution is right for them.

That’s why we’re going to cover the best online giving methods, as well as give you some tips on how to maximize each method for major fundraising success.

1. Start an online product fundraiser.

The Overview

The “t-shirt fundraiser” has long been a staple in the fundraising world, but thanks to online donations, these fun and lucrative fundraisers can be easier and more engaging than ever before!

When you add products to your fundraising campaign, you’re enabling your supporters to make donations toward a cause they love and receive custom, attractive merchandise in return. A win-win!

For all your product fundraising needs, Booster has the online fundraising solutions for you. You can design, promote, sell, and ship all your custom t-shirts through Booster’s user-friendly online platform.

To make a donation, supporters simply purchase a t-shirt from your Booster campaign. Then, the shirts are shipped to each individual donor or to a central location (such as an event venue), where the nonprofit will distribute the shirts. Donors can also make an additional donation on top of their purchases.

It’s free to start a Booster campaign, and campaign creators have the option of uploading photos and videos to showcase their cause.

The Pros

There are several benefits to incorporating products into your organization’s fundraising strategy, including:

T-shirts are incentivizing. T-shirts can encourage donors to give because they’re a useful, fun product that many people will want to wear in their daily lives. Donors love t-shirts, especially when they can wear them together in support of your nonprofit’s cause.

Custom clothing can be branded. Custom clothing is a great way to promote your nonprofit’s brand. Whenever supporters wear t-shirts with your nonprofit’s name and logo, they’re advertising your organization — for free! Plus, having a tangible item in their closets can keep your cause at the front of their minds whenever they put it on.

Products pair well with events. T-shirts are the perfect supplement to a fundraising event, especially walkathons or fun runs. T-shirts allow donors to express their love of your organization and band together with like-minded supporters during your event. Plus, your nonprofit can take impactful photos of supporters dressed in solidarity!

For example, product fundraising is a great option for schools looking to raise funds during sports games and other events. Not only will students jump at the chance to buy a t-shirt to show their school pride, but teachers and parents will also purchase items with your school’s mascot and colors.

Additionally, Booster can be used as a peer-to-peer or crowdfunding platform. If your nonprofit is hosting a campaign or event, encourage donors to create their own custom t-shirts and sell them to their friends and family (while donating the proceeds to your nonprofit, of course!).

2. Select a devoted payment processor.

The Overview

Any online fundraising platform will have payment processing built into the backend.

However, your nonprofit can also purchase a payment processor’s services directly. If you’re a smaller nonprofit who only needs simple, easily manageable online donation tools, a payment processor can provide you with features to meet all your basic online donation needs.

While relying on a dedicated payment processor for your online giving tools isn’t the best choice for larger organizations with more complex needs, it can be a great option for nonprofits who are just getting started.

The Pros

Payment processors are experts in accepting online donations. After all, that is their specialty.

With a strong payment processor, your nonprofit should be able to create donation forms that are:

PCI-compliant.

Equipped to handle multiple payment types.

Embedded into your website.

Since payment processors are in the business of managing online transactions, they can ensure that each and every donation is transferred securely and efficiently.

Our Top Pick

iATS Payments enables nonprofits to build custom donation forms that match their website’s design. Their secure forms can be built quickly to suit your organization’s various needs (events, campaigns, etc.).

iATS offers different packages, but none of them require programming knowledge and all are user-friendly!

3. Build a custom donation form.

The Overview

For the most customizable and sophisticated donation forms, look to your fundraising software. You’ll be able to easily brand your donation page so that it maintains the professional look and feel of your organization’s website.

Why is important to have a cohesive brand on both your donation page and your organization’s website?

Think about it this way: if donors land on your donation page and it doesn’t match your brand, your supports will question if they’re on the right website. Any hesitation can cause your donors to reconsider contributing.

Ensure that there’s no question about the ownership of your donation page, by:

Using the same colors and fonts for both your donation form and nonprofit website.

Having your organization’s logo at the top of the page.

Including a simplified version of your navigation on your donation form.

All these factors will help donors know that your donation page is related to your organization. And when your donors feel at ease, they’re more likely to complete the donation process.

Additionally, most fundraising software offers a more comprehensive set of fundraising tools, such as:

CRM integration.

Social media sharing features.

Tracking and analytics.

Email integrations.

Features will vary depending on the platform a nonprofit uses, but this more comprehensive solution can tackle multiple aspects of an online fundraising strategy.

The Pros

Online donation pages are perhaps the most common means of accepting online donations, and for that reason, many nonprofits invest in online giving software to remain competitive with other organizations.

One of the most obvious benefits of donation pages generated from online giving software is that they can easily be branded to your nonprofit.

Branding will help donors recognize your donation page and can reassure them that they’re giving to a professional, established organization. Plus, your donors will likely feel more secure if they can stay on the same domain with a familiar URL.

Since custom donation forms give your nonprofit the most control, you can build pages that illustrate your mission and inspire donors to give!

Our Top Pick

Salsa offers a full suite of online fundraising tools that can benefit your nonprofit.

Their software features a drag-and-drop-style page-builder, so your nonprofit can easily rearrange and customize your page until it suits your needs.

All of Salsa’s forms are automatically mobile-responsive and optimized, so your donors will have no problem accessing online giving through smartphones and tablets.

4. Consider peer-to-peer fundraising software.

The Overview

Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns harness the power of online networks to raise funds for charitable causes.

During peer-to-peer campaigns, nonprofits enable their supporters to set up personal donation pages, whereby individuals and teams can raise money for one central cause.

In order to set up a P2P campaign for your organization, you’ll need to partner with a software provider. Through peer-to-peer software, you’ll be able to build donation pages that are custom to your brand while being personalized to each individual fundraiser. You can also add fun gamification features like leaderboards, badges, and fundraising thermometers.

The Pros

Peer-to-peer campaigns are some of the most engaging, interactive ways to motivate your donors and get them excited about your fundraiser. Because donors are the ones fundraising, these campaigns give them a chance to share their stories about why your cause is important to them.

Plus, P2P fundraisers are inherently social. Software can equip donors with the tools to easily share their campaigns on social media (and beyond) to get the word out about your organization’s cause.

Peer-to-peer campaigns can raise serious fundraising dollars on their own, but they’re even more powerful when paired with a fundraising events! Because these fundraisers are rooted in communities, P2P pairs best with active, social events, such as:

Walkathons.

Bike races.

Obstacle courses.

5k or 10k races.

Sporting events.

Donors will feel even more inspired to give when they know they’re not only supporting a great cause, but the fundraiser too!

Our Top Pick

Qgiv provides robust peer-to-peer tools with all the features your nonprofit needs to launch a successful campaign.

With Qgiv, you’ll be able to fully customize your donation pages, including adding custom widgets and interactive gamification features.

Not only is your campaign easy to start, but it’s also easy to track, even after it ends. Qgiv grants you the ability to run full, custom reports on your participants’ progress and fundraising success. (With all their user-friendly analytics tools, your P2P campaigns are practically guaranteed to get even better over time!)

5. Explore mobile giving tools.

The Overview

While online donations on their own can help you increase your fundraising power, you won’t be able to truly maximize your donation potential unless you implement some form of mobile giving, too.

There are a number of ways you can accept mobile donations, the simplest of which is to ensure that your online donation form is mobile-optimized.

We’ve already walked you through customizing the perfect donation page, but before your form is really ready to go, you’ll need to make sure that it looks and works just as great on a tablet or cell phone screen as it does a larger monitor.

Most software providers will create a page that works on all devices, but if you’re adding your own custom elements, go ahead and double check that it’s mobile-friendly.

Mobile donation pages aren’t the only way to collect online donations, but they’re definitely a solid start!

The Pros

The most obvious advantage to mobile giving is that your donors will no longer be limited to giving through a laptop or desktop computer. Now, they can make a donation to your nonprofit whenever and wherever they’d like.

Not only can donors give on the go, but they can give at your events, too. When you add a text-to-give or mobile kiosk option to your fundraising event, you’re enabling donors to give in more ways than they might normally have been able to. More options equal more donations!

Our Top Pick

If you’re looking for an innovative software provider with a ton of mobile giving options to choose from, we recommend taking a look at BidPal!

BidPal provides text-to-give tools as well as auction-specific mobile bidding software. When you implement mobile bidding into your silent auction, you completely streamline the process from start to finish. Attendees can bid directly through their phones and can even set up automated bidding on items they love.

The best part of mobile bidding? You’ll bypass the extensive checkout process associated with paper bid sheets. Guests pre-register their payment information so that winning bidders instantly receive their receipts when the auction closes.

6. Work with comprehensive fundraising software.

The Overview

When your organization works with a number of fundraising tools and platforms, it’s important that all your software can communicate with one another in an effective, sustainable way.

Whether you’re accepting donations through an online form on your website or tracking bidding at an online or in-person auction, you’ll be collecting a significant amount of donor information with each transaction. To make sure all that information is accounted for, you may need to work with a CRM that integrates with your fundraising tools.

Or, for even better results, you can use a comprehensive fundraising solution that can manage your donor information while equipping you with online donation tools.

The Pros

When your CRM and online donation tools work together, you save time and reduce error. Because there will no longer be a need for manual data entry, you’ll be able to focus on other tasks (the ones you can’t automate!).

Instant data collection isn’t the only perk of using a comprehensive CRM. Depending on your provider, you may also have access to a number of other beneficial tools within your database, which will help you:

Additionally, the information that you collect from your donors will help you determine the average gift size. If you learn that the majority of your donors like to contribute $15, then you can place a button with that amount on your donation form to make the giving process quicker for your donors.

Our Top Pick

NeonCRM houses an array of fundraising tools that all work seamlessly with your database. Because Neon is built for nonprofits, their team understands exactly what your organizations need to succeed—and they supply it for you all in one centralized location!

With three versatile product packages to choose from, any organization can find the right fit for their needs. You won’t waste money on tools you don’t need, but you also won’t sacrifice having powerful, expansive software.

Now that you know how to accept online donations, it’s time to choose the platform that’s right for you!

A. Booster

About the platform:

Booster is a unique, risk-free crowdfunding platform that allows nonprofits to raise funds by selling T-shirts. With Booster, you can design and sell up to five different products or color variations for your campaign.

Additionally, their fundraising pages have built-in social sharing buttons so that donors can easily share your campaign with their network.

Why we love it:

Booster is great for fundraising events like walkathons because when donors receive their t-shirt, they are effectively spreading the word about your cause. Every time they wear it, they are sharing your cause with everyone that sees!

The price:

Booster makes it easy for any nonprofit to set up a campaign. There are no setup costs or any fees to design your T-shirts. You will pay 2.8% of the total funds you raise as part of the payment process fee.

B. Fundly

About the platform:

Fundly is a versatile crowdfunding platform for individuals and nonprofits.

Social sharing is a key feature on Fundly’s fundraising pages. Every crowdfunding page has buttons where supporters can share your campaign to their networks. That way, supporters can spread the word about your campaign.

In addition to their sharing options, Fundly offers mobile-responsive pages and a mobile app so that supporters can access your campaign on the go. Mobile features make it easier for donors to give, which can help you raise even more funds.

C. Generosity

About the platform:

If you’re looking for a site that focuses on raising money for philanthropic causes then Generosity is a good choice. All you have to do is tell your story, upload an image, and you are ready to start raising funds.

Why we love it:

Generosity is a fundraising platform for socially minded causes, so your nonprofit will fit right in! Plus, it’s backed up with the support of a much larger crowdfunding platform.

The price:

To use Generosity, your nonprofit won’t have to pay any platform fees. However, the payment processor does charge 3% plus $0.30 per transaction.

2. CRMs and donor databases

CRMs and donor databases help keep all your fundraising information in one place. When you have everything centralized, you can save time. You won’t have to search for information on different software to get the full picture. Everything will be in one place that you can easily refer to.

When you have your donor data stored in a nonprofit CRM, you can create more detailed profiles of your donors. More detailed donor profiles will give you deeper insights into the type of fundraising ideas that work best for your nonprofit.

Additionally, these valuable tools can give you a well-rounded understanding of your current fundraising so that you can plan accordingly.

About the tool:

With Salsa’s donor management feature, you can create profiles for all your supporters.

Additionally, you can run reports on various campaigns to help you make critical decisions and improve future campaigns.

Why we love it:

Salsa’s all-in-one fundraising software can handle anything from donation pages to analysis. That way, you can collect the information donors provide on the donation pages you create. You won’t have to transfer any of your information to a different software.

B. Little Green Light

About the tool:

Your nonprofit can manage fundraising events by tracking RSVPs, attendance, and guest names. Plus, Little Green Light integrates with other software so that you can link up with your email marketing software and payment processor.

Why we love it:

Little Green Light is an online-based tool that doesn’t require your nonprofit to download any software. You can also give access to as many users as you want.

The price:

The cost to use Little Green Light will depend on the number of supporters you want to track. For example, if you track 10,000 donors, your nonprofit will pay $59 a month or $637 annually. Additionally, you’ll have to pay processing fees if you want to use their donation forms. You can get more detailed information on pricing here.

C. Neon

About the tool:

With Neon, your nonprofit can create pages such as surveys, membership forms, or fundraising campaigns. All the information that you collect from these pages goes into your Neon CRM database for future use.

The price:

3. Online donation software

Online donation software helps your nonprofit accept donations in a way that’s convenient for your donors. With this software, you can be more conscious of your donors’ preferences and create forms that keep supporters on the page until they confirm their contribution.

A. Qgiv

About the software:

When you create a donation page, you have full control over the layout and design. That way, you can create a page that is consistent with your nonprofit’s brand.

In addition to accepting online gifts, Qgiv allows donors to register for events, memberships and so much more on the donation forms you create.

Why we love it:

Qgiv’s software is easy to use. You won’t have to learn HTML or CSS code to create a fully customized form.

The price:

To create unlimited donation form, you won’t have to pay a monthly fee. You’ll just pay a processing fee of 3.95% plus $0.30 per transaction. If you’re looking for customized donation pages or text-to-give, the price will start at $49 a month. For more information on Qgiv’s pricing, look here.

4. Payment Processing

Although, it’s a process that’s not often thought about, payment processing is critical if you want to raise funds online. In fact, one of the concerns donors have about making online donations is security.

Having a secure payment processor is important because it makes sure that your donors’ information stays safe.

A. iATS Payments

About the payment processor:

iATS Payments is a PCI-compliant payment processor that helps you process credit, debit, and ACH payments.

In addition to security measures like tokenization and PCI compliance, iATS works one-on-one with your nonprofit to establish the level of fraud protection that you need.

Why we love it:

iATS is a secure payment processor that works exclusively with nonprofits.

Price:

B. PayPal

About the payment processor:

PayPal is one of the most widely used payment processors for individuals, businesses, and even nonprofits. Aside from accepting online donations through their website, PayPal also features a mobile app where you can accept contributions.

Price:

5. Prospect Research

Prospect research is what helps you gain a deeper understanding of your donors. The insights you learn from prospect research can help you create better fundraising campaigns and help you improve your outreach.

A. DonorSearch

About the tool:

DonorSearch can help learn more about your potential donors and your current donors so that you can gain knowledge on their personal backgrounds, giving history, and much more.

They deliver all the results through their easy-to-use platform.

Why we love it:

DonorSearch provides more than just general prospect research; they also provide wealth screenings so that you can find potential major gift supporters.

The price:

If you’re interested in DonorSearch, their pricing will depend on the services you need. Contact them for more information.

B. Attentive.ly

About the tool:

Attentive.ly uses social media listening to help you find out more about your donors. You can listen to what donors are saying about your nonprofit and gain more insights into their interests and preferences.

Why we love it:

Attentive.ly integrates with many CRMs so that any new information you learn about donors can be linked and transferred to your current donors’ profiles.

The price:

The beauty of Attentive.ly is that you can start their services for free. Of course, you’ll have limited features, so if you want more insights, they have plans ranging anywhere from $255 to $450 a month.

6. Email marketing software

Email marketing software can help automate your outreach so that you can effectively engage with donors. With a simpler way to interact with donors, you can create more communications and improve your stewardship strategies.

A. MailChimp

About the software:

MailChimp helps you send out automated emails to your donors. With their tool, your nonprofit can create and design email messages. You can create different lists so that each donor receives a different and tailored message.

Why we love it:

With a list of features that includes tracking and analytics, you can keep a record of what email campaigns were successful and make changes to improve the ones that weren’t.

The price:

Even small nonprofits can start using MailChimp’s services. You can start for free.

If you’re a larger organization or want additional features, you’ll pay up to $199 a month for services.

7. Matching gift services

With matching gift services, you have the potential to double your donations! Many supporters don’t realize that their employers offer programs where they will match donations made to nonprofits.

It’s up to you to educate donors about matching gifts and make it easy for them to learn about their employer’s program.

Matching gift services can help. We’ll cover two different services.

A. Double the Donation

About the service:

Double the donation helps make it easier for donors to search for their company’s matching gift program. They include features that you can add to your donation pages to inform donors about matching gifts.

They offer a tool that you can embed on your matching gift page and other web pages where donors can search for their company’s program.

Why we love it:

Double the Donation’s tools help donors get familiar with matching gifts. By providing them with a way to search for their company’s program during the donation process and wherever you mention matchings lets them understand how to submit a request after they give.

Price:

Double the Donation’s basic plan starts at $299 a month. If you want their premium plan that comes with more customization and integrations, it costs $499 a month.

B. 360MatchPro

About the service:

360MatchPro automatically informs donors about matching gifts so you don’t have to spend a lot of time reminding them about their company’s program.

If donors fill out the donation form using their company email or search for their company matching gift program on the donation form, they will automatically get a reminder email with details on their company’s program and how to submit a matching gift request.

Why we love it:

Donors can receive specific reminders about their program so that they are more familiar with the process.